WALTHAM, Mass. – After trailing by seven 30 seconds into the second half, fourth-seeded Bentley University outscored 13th-seeded St. Michael's College 38-11 the rest of the way to gain a 59-39 first-round win in the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Basketball Championships  Friday night on Barbara Stevens Court.

All nine players used by Coach C White scored as Bentley improved to 18-9 and advanced to Sunday's quarterfinals where they will host 12th-seeded Franklin Pierce University. The Ravens 9-19, moved on after upsetting New Haven, 57-49.

Freshman post Julia Elie (Rockland/Rockland HS) led Bentley's offense with her 12 points on six-of-nine shooting matching her career high. Junior forward Maggie Whitmore (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) followed with nine points and sophomore guard Amanda Kabantu (Portland, Maine/Portland HS) contributed a game-high nine rebounds and eight points.

Bentley could never get its offense going in the first half and as a result, trailed 13-9 after the opening quarter and 26-21 at intermission. The Falcons shot only 29 percent in the half while Purple Knights (1-24) connected at a 44 percent clip. The visitors walked off the court by five following a driving lay-up by junior guard Paige Slaven (Fair Haven, N.J.) just before the buzzer.

Another driving lay-up by Slaven opened the third-quarter scoring, but those were the last points scored by St. Michael's for four-and-a-half minutes. By that point, the Falcons had scored 13 straight points and were in front 34-28. Freshman post Ciara Norman (Roebling, N.J./Life Center Academy) began the run by making one of two free throws and Whitmore followed with two from the charity stripe, where she is shooting 93 percent this season.

After a Kabantu steal, freshman guard Cassidy Yeomans (Marion/Tabor Academy) drained a three-pointer to cut the marking to one. Another Kabantu rebound led to a three-point play by senior guard Ella Thompson (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove HS) and Bentley was in front for good, 30-28 with 5:54 left in the third. Before St. Michael's ended its dry spell, the Falcons were up 34-28 following baskets from Elie and Whitmore.

Bentley ended the quarter with a run of 8-0, stretching the advantage to a dozen at 44-32. That surge include two Whitmore free throws, one by Norman, a basket from graduate guard Kari Brekke (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North HS) and a Yeomans triple.

The Falcons, who improved to 6-1 in February, remained in control throughout the fourth with the lead peaking at 22, 59-37, on a Kabantu pull-up jumper with just under two minutes left.

In addition to the combined 29 points from Elie, Whitmore and Kabantu, Bentley received eight points from Thompson and seven points from Brekke, who also came up with four of the Falcons' dozen steals.

Senior guard Emma McDonough (South Burlington, Vt.) led St. Michael's with 12 points.

Bentley, which yielded less than 50 points for the 12^th time this season, outshot the Purple Knights 52-26 percent in the second half and 40-35 percent for the game. The Falcons also had the advantage in free throws (11-2), rebounds (36-29), turnovers (10-19), points from turns (16-9) and bench points (24-2).

Sunday's home game against Franklin Pierce is scheduled for a 1:30 pm start. In the other quarterfinals, Pace will play at Le Moyne, Assumption will take on Southern Connecticut at home and Saint Rose will travel to Southern New Hampshire.